Gir forest and other protected areas spread acrosss Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts are the only natural habitat of Asiatic lions in the world. The 2015 lion census had put their population to 523.

THE FIVE men who were formally arrested on Wednesday evening for allegedly chasing a lion in a car in Visavadar forest range of Gir (west) division were remanded in the custody of forest department for a day by a local court in Junagadh district on Thursday.

The five were detained on Wednesday afternoon and formally arrested in the evening. "The Bhavnagar men had met Ranaviya after they had come to Kankai in Visavadar taluka around two months ago. Seeing their interest in lions, Ranaviya had promised them to show them the big cats if he spotted the animals. On June 17, a bullock died in Ranaviya's village and he spotted some lions eating the carcass late in the night. He informed the quartet but by the time, they arrived, the lions had left the spot. Eventually, Ranaviya suggested them to go towards Kankai Kunj near the border of Gir National Park and Sanctuary. When they went there, they found two male lions walking on a road amidst hedges and started chasing the animal," Raju Vansh, range forest officer said.

The forest officers added that they chased the sub-adult lion for about 500 metres before the carnivore disappeared amidst bushes. "They were driving at a speed of around 40 km per hour," the RFO said.

On Thursday, the forest officers took the accused to Badak village for reconstruction of the entire incident. Gir forest and other protected areas spread acrosss Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts are the only natural habitat of Asiatic lions in the world. The 2015 lion census had put their population to 523. Hunting a lion can attract seven years imprisonment under The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Rajkot/Ahmedabad: The Asiatic lion was caged near Mityala Sanctuary, where he had sneaked into a villager's compound and preyed on a calf in Bhad village near Khambha on Tuesday night.

According to sources, the lion, which is believed to be around 8-9 years old, was ill and very weak. While feasting on the calf, the lion had gone close to a mare that had pounded it with a couple of brutal kicks, which again left the wild cat injured.

"The lion entered by jumping the compound wall that was nearly eight feet high. There were five cows and three calves tied in the compound and the lion killed all the calves," said Bhabhlu Bharwad, the house owner.

"However, while eating the prey, the lion walked towards the mare, which kicked it hard. The impact of the kick was so hard that the lion actually went into a shock for nearly 30 minutes," Bharwad said.

Interestingly, the lion went away into the forest area near by only to return on Wednesday night in the village. The lion sat right in the middle of the main village road but soon escaped into the wild after people raised an alarm.

In the meantime, Khambha Lion Nature Club president Bhikhu Patawala informed chief conservator of forests, Junagadh wildlife, AP Singh that the lion had taken ill since many days and had become weak. It was then decided to cage the lion. Range Forest Officer, Khambha, Rambhai More, who had rushed to the spot on Tuesday night, also confirmed that the lion was sick.

"It had become very feeble probably because it was not able to hunt," said sources.

The forest department team traced this lion near Mitiyala sanctuary and finally caged it. It was taken to Jasadhar Animal Care Centre for treatment.

The lion had jumped a nearly 8 foot long wall of Bhabhlu Bharwad's house and preyed on the calves tied there. Despite people making a hue and cry and efforts to shoo it away into the forest, the lion did not budge from its place for entire Tuesday night.

Bhad village is surrounded by Mitiyala sanctuary on one side and Dhari (east) forest on the other.

RAJKOT/AHMEDABAD: The Asiatic lion, which had sneaked into a villager's compound and preyed on a calf in Bhad village near Khambha on Tuesday night, was caged near Mityala Sanctuary on Thursday.

Sources said that the lion, which is believed to be around 8-9 years old, was ill and very weak. While feasting on the calf, the lion had gone close to a mare that had pounded it with a couple of brutal kicks, which again left the wild cat injured.

Interestingly, the lion went away into the forest area near by only to return on Wednesday night in the village. The lion sat right in the middle of the main village road but soon escaped into the wild after people raised an alarm.

In the meantime, Khambha Lion Nature Club president Bhikhu Patawalainformed chief conservator of forests, Junagadh wildlife, AP Singh that the lion had taken ill since many days and had become weak. It was then decided to cage the lion. Range Forest Officer, Khambha, Rambhai More, who had rushed to the spot on Tuesday night, also confirmed that the lion was sick.

"It had become very feeble probably because it was not able to hunt," said sources.

The lion had jumped a nearly 8-foot-long wall of Bhabhlu Bharwad's house and preyed on the calves tied there. Despite people making a hue and cry and efforts to shoo it away into the forest, the lion did not budge from its place for entire Tuesday night.

Bhad village is surrounded by Mitiyala sanctuary on one side and Dhari (east) forest on the other.

After video of the men allegedly chasing a sub-adult lion while driving in car went viral, forest department had initiated an inquiry and had found it to be genuine.

The five men arrested for allegedly chasing a lion while driving in a car were sent on one-day remand after forest department produced them in court in Visavadar town of Junagadh district on Thursday. Officers of Visavadar forest range in Gir (west) forest division produced the five in Visavadar on Thursday afternoon and sought their custody for further interrogation. The court granted the remand application and sent the five to forest departments' custody. "This is very serious offence and court has granted one-day remand of the accused. We suspect a few other persons were also involved in the incident and they too will be arrested in due course," Pradeep Singh, deputy conservator of forests (DCF) of Gir (west) said.

After video of the men allegedly chasing a sub-adult lion while driving in car went viral, forest department had initiated an inquiry and had found it to be genuine. Forest officers had identified the five men who chased the Asiatic lion in their car as Uttpal Pandya (33), Parthiv Trivedi (38), Devang Andharia (46), Brijesh Joshi (31)—all residents of Bhavnagar and Leela Ranaviya alias Lakhan Mer (20), a resident of Badak village in Visavadar taluka of Junagadh district. The five were detained on Wednesday afternoon. Forest officers had formally arrested them on Wednesday evening after booking them for hunting the Asiatic lion, an endangered species which has been classified as Schedule-I animal in The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Forest officers say that the quartet from Bhavnagar were working as medical representatives (MRs).

"The Bhavnagar men had come to Kankai around two months ago for darshan and had accidentally met Ranaviya, a farmer. They had asked Ranaviya if lions could be seen in that area and Mer had promised to inform them whenever he would spot the big cats. On June 17, a bullock died in Ranaviya village and he spotted lions eating them late night. He informed the quartet of Bhavnagar.

But by the time, they arrived, lions had left the spot. Eventually, Ranaviya suggested to go towards Kankai Kunj near the border of the Gir National Park and Sanctuary (GNPS) saying they would probably locate lions there. And they did indeed find two male lions walking the stretch of road covered with hedge on both sides and started chasing the animals," Raju Vansh, range forest officer (RFO) of Visavadar said.

Forest officers said that the incident took place barely a few hundred metres away from the sanctuary of the GNPS. "They chased the sub-adult lion for about 500 metres before the carnivore managed to go off the approach road and escape in bushes. The accused were driving their car at the speed of around 40-km per hour," the RFO further said.

On Thursday, forest officers took the accused to Badak village and did a reconstruction of the incident. Gir forest and other protected areas spread in Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts are the only natural habitat of Asiatic lions in the world. The 2015 lion census had put the population the top predator to 523. Hunting a lion can attract seven years imprisonment under The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Wandering Gir sanctuary lion captured

According to forest officials, the old and famished big cat walked into the backyard of a house of Babubhai Bharwad in the village on the night of June 20 in search of food, where it killed three calves

Vadodara, Jun 22 A lion from Gir Sanctuary who strayed into Bhand village in Amreli district on June 20 and has been posing a threat to residents was captured alive from a forest area near the village today.

According to forest officials, the old and famished big cat walked into the backyard of a house of Babubhai Bharwad in the village on the night of June 20 in search of food, where it killed three calves.

The forest officials were alerted by villagers after the lion tried to attack a horse tied in the house backyard.

"Our first priority was to drive the lion out to the forest area so that there is no threat to villagers. We succeeded in driving it out and kept tracking its movements," said Range Forest Officer Rambhai Mor.

He said a prior permission of the chief conservator of forest (wild life) was mandatory to capture the lion alive.

Forest officials preferred setting up a trap over using a tranquiliser shot considering the old age of the lion.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

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The Gujarat forest department today arrested four persons for allegedly chasing a lion cub in their car in Visavadar taluka of Junagadh district located close to the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Gujarat forest department today arrested four persons for allegedly chasing a lion cub in their car in Visavadar taluka of Junagadh district located close to the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, officials said. A video of the purported incident, which took place on June 17, has gone viral on the social media, drawing flak from animal lovers. The video, which lasts around one minute, shows the cub running frantically ahead of the car on a narrow path at night to save its life.

Although none of the occupants of the car could be seen in the video, one of them is heard asking the driver in Gujarati to chase the cub: "Increase speed, hit it… go fast.. shoot it.. we will not get the chance again." The cub, however, disappeared into the bushes and escaped unhurt.

Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF), Junagadh Wildlife Circle, A P Singh said after the incident came to light, the forest officials initiated an inquiry and nabbed the four accused from Bhavnagar today. They were held on charges of endangering the life of a lion cub, the official said.

"These four men, accused of chasing the cub, were held by the forest officials from Bhavnagar. We also seized their car. We will seek their remand from court to investigate their motive behind this act," Singh said. According to the official, the video was shot somewhere in Visavadar taluka of Junagadh district on June 17.

Visavadar is close to the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, known as the last abode of Asiatic lions. There are around 523 lions in the sanctuary. "We learned that when they said 'shoot it,' they meant shooting video of the cub on their mobile phone, not shooting the cub with a gun. We are investigating this case from all the angles," Singh said.

AHMEDABAD: In a major breakthrough, the forest department has arrested four persons from Bhavnagar, who had harassed a lion cub by chasing it for a long distance in their car.

The video of the chase had gone viral on social media, leaving the wildlife lovers incensed.

They were identified as Utpal Pandya, Devang, Parthiv and Brijesh while another person Lakhan Mer, who had facilitated their illegal lion show near Visavadar inJunagadh, was identified. They were working as medical representatives in Bhavnagar.

Chief conservator of forest AP Singhsaid that the state cyber-crime cell was roped in neither the faces of the accused nor the car number was available. They were only heard speaking in Gujarati.

"We began backward tracing of the origin of the video and rounded up one youth in Bhavnagar. The man broke down during interrogation and narrated the entire episode," said Singh.

The four chased the lion cub till it escaped into the dark.

The arrested persons told the forest department that they were afraid of chasing the cub at a high speed, but Mer a resident of Javaladi (Badak) inKankari Kunj, asked them to try and go as close as possible to the cub so that they could take a proper video.

The four had gone for their officials work and then Mer was their local contact who took them in the fields to show lion.

Ramkumar, additional principal chief conservator of forest said, "There was no lead and hence with the help of cyber officials we traced the origin of the video. The department wants to set such examples so that desist from such harassment of lions and illegal shows."

Rajkot: People spent a sleepless night in Bhad village near Khambha in Amreli district when an adult Asiatic lion sneaked into the compound of a house and preyed upon calves tied there.

However, the king of the jungle too had its share of woes when a mare that was also tied nearby delivered a couple of brutal kicks to the lion. "The lion entered by jumping the compound wall that was nearly eight feet high. There were five cows and three calves tied in the compound and the lion killed all the calves," said BhabhluBharwad, the house owner.

"However, while eating the prey, the lion walked towards the mare, which kicked it hard. The impact of the kick was so hard that the lion actually went into a shock for nearly 30 minutes," Bharwad said.

Even as villages raised a hue and cry, the lion didn't budge from the spot and kept feasting on the calf. Police and forest department teams, including ran-ge forest officerRambhai Mor, reached the village and tried to shoo away the lion, but in vain.

Almost on the verge of extinction, Asiatic lions are rare to spot these days. A shocking video has emerged on the Internet which shows an Asiatic lion cub being wildly chased by a car until it ran into the wild woods. In the video, the faint voices can be heard as saying in Gujarati: "Hit it… Increase the speed. Shoot it. Won't get such a chance." Another man can be heard saying, "Can't hit."

Ram Kumar, the additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), told TOI, "We have sent the video to all senior officers and the DCF in Gir and have asked them to identify the area and the people." An analyst has been quoted in the same report as saying, "It appears that the car was moving at a speed of around 35-40 kmph and the cub was made to run at a greater speed." The officer said that the vehicle chased the cub for nearly 45 seconds. The 50-second video has been circulated to officials to identify the criminal.

According to a report by TOI, "Four men have been arrested now, who have been identified as, Utpal Pandya, Devang, Parthiv and Brijesh. Another person Lakhan Mer, who had facilitated their illegal lion show near Visavadar in Junagadh, was also identified. They were working as medical representatives in Bhavnagar."

"We began backward tracing of the origin of the video and rounded up one youth in Bhavnagar. The man broke down during interrogation and narrated the entire episode," the chief conservator of forest AP Singh told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Ramkumar, additional principal chief conservator of forest said, "There was no lead and hence with the help of cyber officials we traced the origin of the video. The department wants to set such examples so that desist from such harassment of lions and illegal shows."

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The video of a lion cub being chased by men in Gujarat's Amreli district is being circulated in social media. "Hit it, shoot it," men are heard saying in the video

AHMEDABAD: A winding road through a forest at night and a desperate lion cub, chased by a car, runs for its life: A 50-second video that captures the plight of the lions of Gujarat has triggered an investigation by the forest department.

The video is apparently shot in Amreli, close to the Gir forest -- the only remaining home of the Asiatic lion. It was posted by a non-profit, so the forest department could take action.

The cellphone footage appears to have been shot by one of the occupants of the car, who is heard exhorting the driver to go faster. "Increase the speed... Hit it... Increase the speed. Shoot it. Shoot it. Won't get such a chance," he is heard saying in Gujarati.

Lit by the headlights of the car, the cub runs faster and faster. Finally as the road forks, it takes the right, where the clip abruptly ends.

"Lost it," a frustrated voice is heard saying.

Ram Kumar, a senior forest official said they are circulating the video to "all wildlife circles in and around Gir to identify the culprits".

Gir has around 400 lions in 1400 square kilometer area. But relentless development - roads through the forest, expanding villages and illegal mining - is forcing animal-human proximity.

In May last year, a four-year-oldlion had accidentally fallen into dry wellin the same Amreli district. While chasing the village's grazing buffaloes, it was surprised by a group of women. As the panic stricken animal tried to flee, it fell into the dry well. It was later rescued and released in the forest.

Ahmedabad: The uproar over the suspension of two forest department staffers has brought to light the fact that illegal lion shows are rampant outside sanctuary areas. On average, 10 shows are organized every day. The business of illegal lion shows acrossSaurashtra regionis estimated to be worth about Rs 3 crore a year, which is equivalent to about 70% of the revenue through official lion safaris.

Senior forest officials, on condition of anonymity, said, "For each show, farmers on the periphery of Gir Sanctuary charge Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the size and paying capacity of the group. If spectators want to see a lion feed on cattle, it could cost between Rs 8,000 and Rs 15,000. If someone just wants to see a lion, the price is about Rs 2,000 for a single person or between Rs 750 to Rs 1,000 per person for groups."

Another senior officer in Gandhinagar said that ever since the department got strict and stopped multiple safari vehicles converging at the site of a sighting, the lion show business has flourished. This is because barely 50% of visitors now actually get to see a lion.

Some jeep drivers and beat guards have also got involved, by joining hands with local farmers who have a lion presence in their fields.

The modus operandi is simple. The farmers provide bait every second day to make sure that the pride does not leave and the shows go on uninterrupted.

Another senior forest officer said two other untoward incidents had come to light in the last three months. In March, a forest trekker on patrol was stabbed to death by seven men, during a crackdown on an illegal lion show on the border of theGir forestinAmreli district.

A tourist from Mumbai had alerted the Prime Minister's office, about ostensible poaching of a cub by a resident of Talala. The alert sent the forest department scurrying from pillar to post. When the Talala resident, a taxi driver, was arrested, he confessed to having made a false promise to earn some money.